Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- For young people who fall prey to the drug, the journey to heroin addiction and back again can be a deadly cycle.

"They will do anything they can to get their drug. They become vicious as they progress into their addiction,” said Tom Dietzler, a counselor at Caron Treatment Centers.

According to Dietzler, heroin addiction in young adults is a powerful disease that can cause good kids from loving families to make horrible decisions.

Perhaps the most challenging part of the road to recovery is the process of restructuring an addict’s life so it is no longer centered on the drug. Heroin is characterized by the euphoric high it gives users, followed by an intense physical withdrawal. To avoid the pain of withdrawal, the heroin addict is constantly looking for their next dose.

Dietzler said that parents should not expect their children to be cured quickly once entering drug treatment programs.

"Many parents, when they bring their children here, it is almost like [they expect] a 31-day cure pill," Dietzler said. "Wave a magic wand, Mr. Dietzler, make my son or daughter better."

Dietzler’s advice to families who are dealing with addiction in a loved one is to get help as soon as possible.

"The family often is in just as much denial as the patient is...and if the family doesn't get well, the drug addict doesn't have any motivation to get well."

Photo Courtesy - ABC News(SEATTLE) -- Officials at Stanwood High School outside Seattle are fighting a bigger battle than just making sure their students graduate. They're battling heroin addiction.

Nearly 50 students at the school are hooked on heroin. Abigail Achison, 17, dropped out of Stanwood and gave into the drug.

"After the first time, I was completely hooked," Achison told ABC News. "Some people start out slowly with other drugs. I just did heroin once and I couldn't stop."

School officials and community members organized a town hall meeting Monday to raise awareness and rally around their teens.

"It's all of our problem," Lloy Schaaf, assistant superintendent of the Stanwood-Camano School District, said. "We all need to own it and we all need to do something about it."

The problem of heroin addiction in Seattle is a growing one. A middle school janitor was found earlier this year with 60 bags of heroin. Two other dealers were arrested weeks later near a suburban Seattle soccer field.

The drug's affordable price and increasing accessibility help its popularity among teens, experts say. Kids can buy a small bag of heroin for as little as $5.

Other U.S. suburbs are battling a growth in heroin abuse, as well. There have been more heroin overdose deaths in Ohio this year, for instance, than deaths on the highway. And there has been a five-fold increase in heroin overdoses and death in Charlotte, N.C.

The explosion of heroin use by suburban teens isn't by accident. Drug dealers are strategically marketing the drug using popular brand names such as Chevrolet or Prada. Dealers will even put the logos of blockbuster films such as "Twilight" on heroin bags. A dealer might even distribute the drug for free, to get teens addicted.

Another reason for the rise in heroin use is that other drugs such as OxyContin have become harder to obtain as a result of stricter guidelines enforced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.